


Blood and Water (One Shot)

by helpfulDeathgod



Series: Observations of an Unfortunate Realm Lord [1]
Category: Heroes of the Storm (Video Game), World of Warcraft
Genre: F/M, Hallow's End AU, Heroes of the Storm Halloween AU, I know he has a wife usually but like this is an AU, Not even the slightest bit of a slow burn, One Shot, Who knows I might rewrite this some day and make it much longer, but for now please enjoy what I managed to write on and off for three months
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-31 13:16:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17850146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helpfulDeathgod/pseuds/helpfulDeathgod
Summary: -- I wrote this over a year ago around Halloween when the Dr. Wolf and Stein skin first came out for Genn Greymane in HotS because I felt inspired and ran with it. --Aloreah Silverblood is the only remaining member of a long line of vampires that was just recently slaughtered by the Raven Court's vampires for defying the Raven Lord for too long. She's being hunted by them, but thankfully she still has friends willing to help protect her. Staying in a mansion with a low priority target seemed like an innocuous enough venture. Well, until it turns out the owner is... well... a very old "friend."





	Blood and Water (One Shot)

**Author's Note:**

> There's not actually any "graphic violence", but at some point later on someone does get stabbed through the chest so I mean... there is that.

The knock echoed through the building, heard just above the pounding rain. It had a sense of urgency to it, yet each knock was deliberate and only came in sets of three. Outside the door stood two women, drenched from the downpour. The one at the door, a tall woman with long pointed ears and unmistakably blue skin, seemed unfazed by the cold or the wet. The woman behind her, a bit shorter with her features hidden under an oilskin cloak, was not so lucky as she shivered helplessly. Maybe that cloak would have helped in more mild weather, but it was soaked just like the rest of her under this merciless onslaught.

The tall one pounded on the door once more before looking back at her companion. She clicked her tongue as her glowing eyes took note of the shivering, as if she remembered something that should have been obvious. With a bit more fervor in her swing, she went to knock again, only for the door to open enough to peek inside.

"What took you so long?" She asked with no small amount of amusement and persistence to her tone. Her boot wedged between the door and the frame, making it a bit difficult for their late host to just close the door on them had they the inclination. "She's going to catch her death out here at this rate and that kind of ruins the point of trying to hide her here, Doctor."

A gruff sigh could be heard over the rain before the door was opened further. The doctor walked further into the room ahead of them however, going too quickly in the dark interior for the smaller one to see who her host was. The elfish woman ushered her shivering companion to follow and made sure to close and lock the door behind them once they were both inside.

"He might be a bit rough around the edges, but you'll be safe here. He did agree to harbor you after all. Oh and hey, just call me V over here, alright? You're the only one on this side who knows what my name is." She muttered, patting the cloaked woman on the back. She laughed at the splash it produced before gesturing to be followed again. "This used to be an entire estate, but most of the buildings are all connected now, so try not to get lost alright?"

The woman nodded, clinging to the leather cloak for some kind of warmth as she followed closely. V led her deeper into the building with expert navigation despite the complete lack of recognizable characteristics. In fact, as far as the woman could tell, it felt like they walked a loop at least twice, with all the nondescript tubes and clutter scattered about. Books or maybe just piles of papers would hold some of the doors open but the rooms were unenterable due to their overcapacity in storage.

After what was only a minute, yet felt much longer from the rush and the smaller woman's agonizingly low body temperature, they finally reached a room with lights inside. Lights on? To the smaller woman's astonishment, the room beyond the door had lights that were not flames captured in a bottle or simple candles, but an electrical fixture. Then she spotted the fireplace and no longer cared for this discovery as she made a very direct line to the only source of warmth in the room.

"Well, Doctor, sorry about catching you in this weather, but here she is." V said as she gestured to the woman huddled in front of the flame. "You know it was urgent, though. She's the one the Court's been looking for the past few days. Hopefully, they'll keep not taking you seriously as a threat while she's here."

"Let us hope for your sake and hers that I finish this serum soon enough." The Doctor said as he finally approached from the far corner of the room. At the sound of his voice, the woman stood up abruptly.

"Introductions are in order, then!" V started, clapping her hands together. She made it seem like this was all very exciting. "Dr. Wolf, this is-"

"We've met... before." The cloaked woman interrupted. She reached up and hesitated for a moment before pulling the hood back, revealing her distinctly blood red hair; all that much darker for how soaked through it was.

"Aloreah... " He whispered, nearly dropping the folded blanket he'd retrieved. His expression was almost impossible to read, especially with the colored goggles he wore. Then he said, "you haven't changed a day."

"I could almost say the same." She responded, allowing a small grin on her face. "Though I suppose your hair has greyed out these days."

Besides the raging storm, the atmosphere quickly became stagnant. V looked back and forth between them until she finally decided to speak up.

"This won't be a problem will it?" She asked.

Aloreah shook her head, but she didn't say anything yet, waiting for the Doctor to offer his opinion of the matter. His expression was even more cryptic now as his brow furrowed into something between irritation and sorrow, yet she felt his eyes on her still.

"No. We have much to catch up on." He finally said. "At the very least, I know I can trust my guest."

She dropped her gaze to the fire beside her and V nodded, content enough with that answer. Then she pat Aloreah on the back and started to walk back out the way she came.

"You both know how to contact me, so let me know if you need anything." She looked over her shoulder and winked before disappearing into the darkness.

The silence that followed was heavy, but nothing compared to the weather outside. Then it was completely broken by the sudden chattering of Aloreah’s teeth. Without even bothering to ask and in motions as if they'd been around each other for years, Wolf helped her out of her cloak and wrapped the dry blanket around her shoulders.

"I didn't know about your family." He muttered as he folded the cloak over his arm. "Not until this morning."

"It was... very recent." She replied. She shivered despite her deathly grip on the blanket. "I don't think too many people would have known if not for V. I'd... rather not talk about it right now."

They didn't need to talk about it. She'd been there, and he'd heard the details of the aftermath from V herself. The Silverblood massacre was fresh on everyone's minds, as it had only been a week ago. A gruesome win for the vampires of the Raven’s Court. Perhaps even a win for the Raven’s Lord himself, to wipe out an entire family in defiance of him.

Wolf turned away, hiding his expression from her view and her own from his.

"Allow me to show you to your room." He whispered. After only a moment to let her collect herself, he then started toward a different door than she'd entered.

As she followed, it made her realize the place was a lot bigger than it looked on the outside. It was obvious that it was a mansion, but the ways the wall changed and door frames led further into hallways suggested that these were once separate buildings entirely. It hardly added to the architecture of the location, but at the very least it meant they were shielded from the torrential onslaught outside.

Before long, the silence between them started to become unbearable. It wasn't like she didn't know what to say, but there was so much she needed, wanted to tell him. Disappearing all those decades ago was on her head and no one else's and she'd never had the chance to tell him why. Considering the current turn of events, that might have been for the best, yet she had only the slightest idea how this loneliness had affected him. She opened her mouth sheepishly when they suddenly came to a stop at a door. He opened it and ushered her inside.

"This is where you will be staying while you are here. As you might have noticed, I live alone. The Vampire Slayers sometimes meet here, but they don't have a scheduled meeting for another few weeks." He explained as she looked around. She figured this was one of the master bedrooms, yet somehow that didn't quite encapsulate the size of the room compared to anything she'd seen before. It was almost big enough for a small family to comfortably live in by itself; there was even a washroom connected. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to retrieve a few more blankets for you."

She simply nodded, noticing that the bed was in dire need of blankets while still being in full supply of pillows somehow. After he stepped out, she allowed herself to explore the room a bit more. The bed, massive, was in the center of the wall opposite of the fireplace, with a dresser on one side and a divider on the other. It seemed silly to have your clothes so far away from the thing you used to change behind, yet upon closer inspection she found the divider was practically discarded; it was out of the way entirely and even qualified as the furthest thing from the door. On that side of the room, across from the divider was the open archway leading into what she assumed was the washroom. It seemed far too large, but when she peaked inside, the size of the bath almost justified it. There were a number of frightening cogs and knobs and levers in the room, or maybe only a few, but she had no idea what they did, so the number seemed greater.

As she stood there, gawking into the washroom, she started to feel the warmth of the fireplace creep into her body. It was a surprise that she'd missed that detail, or maybe she's noticed and simply forgot as she'd been exploring; that was just as likely. Unfortunately, as she attempted to absorb as much heat as she could without simply throwing herself into the fire, she came to the realization that soaked clothes made that all but impossible. Taking a quick observation in her immediate vicinity, she figured the chairs beside her would serve as appropriate surrogate "clothes lines" for now.

With a cursory glance down the hallway and a wary sniff of the air, she decided she had enough time. At least she closed the door slightly to buy herself enough time if he returned, though she did notice that somehow, the hinges were almost silent.

She set the damp blanket on one of the chairs to dry as she undressed, starting first with her bodice. It was the least wet of everything, as it was made of tightly woven fabric and embroidery, making it difficult to soak up any water in the first place, let alone retain it; it was simply damp instead. Then she moved onto her blouse underneath it, which despite what little embroidery it had as well, was just as soaked as if she'd just pulled it out of a puddle as it dripped all over her and the floor. There was no point in wearing it wet without the bodice anyway, as it was wholly transparent against her skin. It made a slap on the back of the chair as she placed it.

Without the soaking wet garments clinging to her, even as her top half lay bare to the air, she could already feel warmth returning to her skin. She'd barely moved on to her belt before she caught the scuff of a boot that made her bolt to the blanket.

It was somehow too late, he already saw, making it only more obvious when his head snapped away at an uncomfortable angle. He stepped further in, keeping her outside of his field of vision as he placed the stack of new blankets on the bed before turning his body away completely.

"I thought you were going to take a little longer than that." She whispered and wrapped the blanket tightly around her.

He cleared his throat as she sat down in the other chair, pretending he was unaffected. The pink tint to his cheeks, which stood out against his grey beard, said otherwise.

"The washroom has fully installed plumbing. If you wish to take a bath, simply turn one of the knobs on the wall. Red for hot. The lever unplugs the drain." He explained, though he never turned to actually look at her as he did. Then he pointed to the wall by the door. "This switch here will turn off the lights in this room. There is another like it in the wash room."

She nodded like this was all normal, but her expression was one of astonishment. He finally forced himself to look at her and was rewarded with the smile on her face.

"I'm impressed, Wolf." She smiled wider, letting it reach her eyes. It was the first time she'd been able to after what she's witnessed. Her eyes even teared up slightly, but she blinked out the tears before they could fall. "Truly. I'm glad I get to be here."

"Thank you. Not many get to appreciate what I've managed to complete here." He remarked with a slight bow. Then he started to leave the room. "If you have need of me... I'm sure your nose can lead you to me as it has in the past."

His comment was smug, but he was right. There was little she couldn't sniff out with her heightened sense of smell. Especially when it came to someone she'd known quite so well as him. They nodded to each other and then he closed the door behind him.

In the loneliness that followed, Aloreah found the strength to collect herself. She almost didn't take the bath, but with a tub like that and hot water to boot, it was impossible to resist. Besides, she didn't really feel like jumping into a clean bed after soaking in the rain.

Now that she got a look at it, the washroom was bigger than it had any right to be. The tub itself was big enough to comfortably fit at least two large people in it. Built in plumbing was mostly unheard of, making the luxury of just this room alone almost nauseating. To her delight, there was even a small cupboard with towels in it. She'd completely missed that on her first survey, but now even the pipes and knobs were much less intimidating.

All the little details and effort put into everything just made her laugh in astonishment. Then it made her cry. Perhaps simply allowing herself to freely feel all her emotions again was the cause of her crying. She held herself tightly, reminding her that she was still half naked, and went back to the fire.

Her home was gone. Completely and totally gone. As she undressed further, setting her trousers across the arm of the chair to dry, her thoughts continued on a merciless path.

It was almost thirty years ago that she'd met Wolf the first time. His hair was much darker then, but there were grey streaks through it before as well. As she walked naked into the washroom, she tried to focus more on him before her thoughts continued to worsen. However, passing the tall standing mirror by the archway inside reminded her of new scars across her body, dragging her helplessly back into darker thoughts.

She turned the red knob of the bath, almost startled when it came out immediately and took only seconds to heat up. She stared into the water as it filled up most of the tub before she finally turned it off. They'd met thirty years ago, yes, but they also hadn't seen each other for almost twenty. After the massacre only a week ago, she'd thought she'd never get to see him again. Yet, she lived while hundreds of others had not.

As she sank into the hot water, she knew she wouldn't be able to hold her emotions at bay anymore. To finally cry after holding back for days felt much the same as when she'd turned the knob for the water. Somehow, even as her sobs wracked through her ribs, the flow of emotions was stronger than she'd expected, stronger than she was prepared for.

She'd personally witnessed the deaths of her mother, her uncle, a number of immediate cousins, and almost every single custodian in service to the family. In a way, she felt lucky not to have siblings, to not have had to see them suffer as well. Now, the Silverblood family was all but extinct. Aloreah remained as the last confirmed living member with even those proven to have close ties to the family finding a swift and gruesome death at the hands of the Raven’s Court. The only connections she'd been able to hold onto was V, the former Raven’s Court Vampire turned Slayer. If not for her old acquaintance, she might have been among those casualties.

Aloreah held herself tighter as her sobs slowed and she fixated on her current situation. V wasn't the only person she knew who was still alive. Now she knew, she still had Wolf. He was alive and that was all that mattered. Even if he quietly hated her for being here now after she'd disappear all those years ago, she was content that he lived. Even if he'd moved on from her, she was content that his heart still beat.

"I can live with that." She croaked to herself. Then she whispered, "I can survive as long as you do."

A flash of lightning followed almost immediately by a deafening bang caused the lights to flicker, then dim until they turned off completely. The sudden and very dramatic change had her eyes wide and heart pounding so hard she could hear her blood rushing. Never had she been a very big fan of surprises like that, but in this vulnerable state it might as well have shot her.

Thankfully, she could see relatively well in the dark, so her panic may well stay quelled for now. She stood and shook some of the water off her legs before stepping out and going for the towels. It helped her calm down a bit more when she saw how ridiculously large and fluffy the towels were. As thankful as she was, she couldn't dwell on it, though it did make toweling off go by a lot faster.

To her dismay, her clothes were not dry, though they were warm; warm and dripping still. If not for some terrible nagging in her gut, something separate from her initial panic, she might have simply accepted her situation and gone to bed. Unfortunately, it was starting to feel like she needed to be somewhere.

Naked in the large and open room, even next to the fire, she was getting cold again. Anything would work temporarily, but to her benefit she remembered the dresser in the room; it smelled like cotton. As she quickly rummaged through the drawers, she found trousers that were a bit big and a button up shirt that was even bigger. She wondered briefly if these were his clothes while figuring out how to make it work. It made her sad for a moment when she realized that it didn't smell like him. It just smelled like clean cotton.

Her own belt kept the pants up while tucking the shirt in and rolling up the sleeves helped manage the size. As long as she didn't get wet again, it didn't matter as much not to wear the bodice. Alas, her boots were still soaked all the way through as well, despite being the closest to the fire without being in it. She rolled up the pant legs and hoped for the best that she wouldn't find something she shouldn't step on. The nagging feeling was making a big point of gnawing on the inside of her stomach, making her suddenly very nauseous, which only served to spur her on.

The hallways were much darker than her room was, though it mostly had to do with the fire and much fewer windows outside the room. The occasional flash of lightning barely lit the halls from the few windows that did exist, much further down. That was the bad news, the good news being that she was perfectly capable of seeing in almost perfect darkness. The other bad news was she had no idea where to go, though that was balanced out by her sense of smell. She was very good at sniffing something out, especially one whose scent was so etched into her memories.

The darkness would not slow her, not while she followed the scent of chemicals and petrichor. The rain here did not smell the same as other places since it happened so often, but this man was not from here like she was. He smelled of his science and stubbornness and the memory of rain in a drought. This smell led her upstairs and through doors she barely noticed, sight keeping her from tripping on the tubes she noticed along the floors and walls. She didn't stop until she reached a door that didn't match the rest of the mansion. Unlike all the decorated wooden doors, this one was metal and bolted into the wall with locks both in and outside the room. It was ajar, and his scent was strongest, so she entered.

The room proved to be much bigger than she expected as she entered onto a catwalk wall above the true floor of the room. This catwalk was made of meshed metal and certainly intended for feet to be in proper footwear to be traversed, making her wince at the sharp pains. It also wrapped around the room from the door she entered to another door across from her, clearly leading outside as the rain washed in from the open gap.

As she made her way to the other door, much slower now, she observed the room. His scent was strongest here, making her wonder if this was where most of his work was done. The elaborate chemistry set and color filled vials and beakers all across the room and shelves seemed to suggest so. There were other things of note across a few tables as well, showing partially completed inventions she could barely describe, including a much smaller, compact version of what initially appeared to be based on one of the hand-held crossbows she'd seen slayers use before. The more she looked at it, the less it seemed like that. She wondered if it was a prototype of one of those "guns" she'd heard so much about.

She didn't get to wonder for long as she approached the door to the rain outside. So much for keeping dry, she thought to herself.

"Wonderful weather we're having..." she said aloud, dripping the sarcasm about as much as she would be dripping water in only a few more seconds. His scent ended just beyond the door, washed away by the onslaught, but thankfully there was only one way to go from there. Up the ladder.

            The cool water pooling on the shielded balcony was a blessing for her now sore feet, though not for long as she looked up the ladder. It went straight to the roof, and from what she could see with the texture on each rung, was also intended for boots to be worn. Non-slip textures these days amounted to sandpaper and outright spikes. This was a little in between. Her sense of need and danger urged her on however, she'd survive a little foot pain if it meant saving his life like her nerves made her believe he needed. Half of the voices in her head hoped she was just being paranoid, the other half knew the truth; these feelings were always right.

As she climbed it, rung for rung worth another two stories at least, the pieces of a voice she didn't know came through the rain and thunder, making her climb faster. All thoughts of pain or discomfort were gone, not the cold of the rain or the heat from her feet could slow her down now, not if her worst fears were becoming true.

Once she reached the top, the voice resumed, and she peeked over the edge, barely able to squint through the water just being blown off the flat surface of this part of the roof, only to dropped back down fast enough she nearly slipped. The sharp scrape against the soft arches of her feet brought her back within herself and abolished the fear that nearly seized her when she'd laid her eyes on the back of someone she could have recognized miles away. Maybe the face was unfamiliar to her, but the clothes he wore were unmistakable, yet worst of all was the soft glow of his eyes in the dark. That infamous red glow of a Raven’s Court vampire.

Despite that fear attempting to pull her away from the ladder by her throat and heart, she peeked again. She'd heard his voice, meaning he had to have been talking to someone else. To her dismay, she did see someone else this time. With his back to her, he stood over a prone figure that at first was unrecognizable, but then lightning flashed and the deafening rumble was all that prevented her distressed cry from being heard. She cursed herself for wishing this upon someone else, but there was no mistaking those unique green goggles.

Then the wind changed and nearly took her off the ladder as it swept against the roof beneath her. It now blew in her favor as it settled, casting her downwind of the men. Her scent and sound would no longer reach them, but theirs reached her. She could hear every word clearly as if she stood next to them.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Doctor." The vampire stated, in response to something she missed. "You see, as long as I keep interfering with whatever it is you're working on, we don't have to take you seriously!"

While she could no longer see his face, she could still hear the sickening, slimy sneer through his tone. It angered her in ways she could not yet describe, pulling up feelings she did not know herself capable of.

"Then why don't you just kill me?" Wolf suggested, growling through gritted teeth. "It would just save you the time..."

"Oh, believe me, I would absolutely love to, my dear mad man, but that would be the easy way out." The vampire replied. Aloreah heard the sound of metal groan briefly before giving out, and a quiet curse from Wolf. "It's so much more fun to watch you suffer, with no idea why you woke up too late to check on your chemistry set, the mysterious bruises and injuries, or the missing parts from your contraptions. You won't be remembering this in the morning, you never do. Wouldn't want your little slayer friends finding out about me so soon, after all."

Wolf groaned as if struck, causing Aloreah to bare her teeth angrily. It was starting to show, that feeling welling up inside her. She couldn't do anything, as she restrained her grip just enough not to warp the ladder she so desperately held onto, not as she was. Maybe if she'd ever taken the opportunity to learn how to fight from one of her family's guards, she might have felt like she'd stand a chance. Raven’s Court Vampires were so much more combat oriented than her own family ever was, however, and it left her feeling hopeless. Anger and despair flooded her system as the once soothing rain pounded down on her head with a sickening tapping.

Despite her moment of negligence, she was able to instinctively swipe the object out of the air as it bounced over the edge of the roof. At first, she had no idea what it was, but the warped end of the long metal object suggested it was whatever the vampire had torn from the roof. The particular shape rang out in her mind, reminding her of things she'd once seen Wolf create all those years ago. A lightning rod, perhaps. If it was, it had certainly seen better days. At the very least, she realized she could perhaps use it to defend herself if she must. Even better was the idea that sprung in her mind. Her instincts were on fire and if given the opportunity, the idea just might work.

"Whoops! I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time searching for that tomorrow, whenever you wake up again." The man laughed and lifted Wolf up by the collar of his shirt. The Doctor might have been taller had he been standing, but as he was lifted to the full length of his attacker's reach, it didn't matter. His feet dangled in the air as he struggled uselessly against the vampiric grip that held him there. "Now then, before I wipe all your memories of tonight, let's see who that delightfully young woman you're hiding is. Oho, that struck a chord, didn't it? She might be important then. Maybe I'll give her a little visit after this."

He laughed viciously as he forced Wolf to his knees and moved one hand from collar to face only to pause halfway. Suddenly, he spat blood and frowned. His laughter had hidden the sound of her bare feet slapping in the puddle of water accumulated on the flat rooftop. Both the vampire and the doctor's eyes focused, wide in surprise on the sharp, twisted piece of metal that jutted out of his chest and stained his elaborate clothes with blood.

He let go of the beaten man who fell back, and reached instead for the metal only for it to forcefully retreat from his grip. In a fit of barely controlled rage, Aloreah yanked the lightning rod out with her left hand as her right closed the distance and speared through his ribs, through his heart. Her own angered cry of exertion was hardly muffled by anything, only silencing the vampire's pain instead.

Had it been a dry night, he would have exploded into a cloud of ash. Instead, the rain just caused the wretched man to almost melt into a disgusting pool of blood, water, and mud. Now unobscured by the vampire, Aloreah stood drenched as the rain washed the blood away from her hands and the rod she held so tightly. Wolf lay propped up on his elbows, his face a mixture of awe and confusion as she straightened herself. For a moment, she looked cool, staring down at the hand she used to end the existence of a man who no doubt caused her family harm. Then the wind changed direction again and bowled her over to her knees.

"A-are you alright?" She yelled over the storm. A thunderhead deep in the storm was beginning to turn their way, causing thunder to increase in volume and length. The rumble was constant now, she could feel it in her chest. "Can you move?"

"Yes!" He replied, pushing himself up into a sit. At this point, it didn't matter that he was sitting in a puddle, he was thoroughly soaked. Then he moved much closer to a mass of metal and rods she couldn't quite make any rhyme or reason for. "We must reattach that rod before the worst hits us! If it's not attached, the core batteries will be overloaded!"

"I don't know what those words mean but I understand it's bad?" She asked, getting closer to where he now stood. He nodded and picked something up she hadn't seen before. It flashed to life with a fire hot enough the rain could not smother it. "What do you need me to do?"

He looked directly at her, goggles easily hiding his eyes with the glare of the fire superimposed over the green of the lenses. It seemed he didn't know, but at the same time there was something else about the way he looked at her, the way she felt under his gaze that made her wonder.

"Hold the twisted end against this and push when I say!" He pointed as he spoke, showing her where it had been removed. When she placed the twisted end against the other twisted part, he applied the flame, quickly heating and melting the metal pieces together. She couldn't watch because of how bright it was, yet it still fascinated her that he could do something so easily and quickly even under this weather. The cold of the rain should have made it impossible, but it worked. "Push down!"

His voice barely reached her against the rolling waves of thunder washing over them, but she heard it just enough to do so. You'd think being soaked so well would make it hard to feel static, but as the hairs on her body began to stand on end, it became impossible to miss. She looked up and squinted through the rain, watching as the lighting within the clouds began to move overhead, occasionally peeking out before diving back in. It was getting very dangerous to be on a rooftop, standing next to metal spikes.

Thankfully, their chances of getting struck by lightning went down drastically when Wolf finished what he was doing and pulled her away from the lightning rods. He had a limp as he walked toward the edge of the roof with the ladder, but his grip on her arm was strong. The static in the air was getting stronger as they moved, making her wonder when the lightning would finally strike. She stopped him when they reached the ladder and pointed down.

"I can drop down! I'll meet you down there!" She could barely hear her own voice as she yelled, but he nodded and crouched at the ladder to begin descending. She couldn't remember how many rungs she had to climb in order to reach the roof, but the glow of the lab below showed her how far she'd have to drop. He climbed down a number of them before looking back up at her, peering over the edge. Then she took a deep breath and took a short leap off that very edge.

A normal human would have crumpled and likely died without any forward momentum to roll with it, the fall felt like 20 or so feet, but as her poor bare feet connected with stone, her much stronger skeleton and muscles absorbed every ounce of shock. Oh, it still hurt. It hurt tremendously. She might have made a sound, if not for her teeth slamming together and her lungs pushing out all her air when she nearly folded in half. It took a few moments more, but by the time Wolf made it down the ladder, she was able to stand up again with a little less pain. It would have hurt significantly more if she hadn't been hopped up on adrenaline.

She wasn't angry now, since she knew he was safe and the vampire was dead, but she still had a bit of a buzz from fear going. He looked worried about her fall for a moment before he seemed to move on and step inside. She could see in the lines on his face, he was still worried about something, there was no way of knowing if it was still about her. A little voice in her head hoped it was still her too.

Aloreah followed inside quietly, making sure to close the door to the balcony to quiet some of the storm. The rain could still be heard pounding on the walls and windows, and the thunder could be felt in the catwalk she stood on, but for the most part she could hear herself breathe again. She could also hear Wolf muttering to himself on the lower floor as he urgently tended to something mixed in with all the chemistry stuff. She couldn't understand what he was saying, but she could feel his words were as urgent as his movements.

"Is there anything I can help with?" She asked as she carefully stepped down the metal stairs of the catwalk. It hurt almost more to be on the stairs, but the cool stone floor at the end was forgiving. He almost stopped completely to her voice, as if he'd already forgotten she was there.

"Unfortunately, no." He grumbled. His limp was still there as he moved about the table, reaching for things that she never would have had a chance to reach on her own and it made her realize she would probably just be in the way in this case. Currently, she out brute strengthed his, but his intellect was greater in turn. Not to say she wasn't smart, this man just so happened to be a genius. Once, he might have been her genius.

"I'll wait over here then." She pulled the only chair that didn't have stuff on or anywhere near it out from the table and sat patiently, watching him as he worked.

As he occasionally glanced her way, it seemed like he was surprised she was staying at all. A part of her stayed because she didn't know how to get back to her room, but what really had her was just wanting to watch him. It might have been twenty years since they'd seen each other, but it wasn't falling out of love that made her disappear from his life all those decades ago. On the contrary, it was her love for him that had spurred her on.

"I mean..." she muttered quietly. "You'll have to sleep at some point."

"Certainly. I am no monster with the energy to work for days or the ability to absorb another's energy to forgo sleep completely, but then neither are you." He replied, initially carrying a tone of accusation only to let it go at the end. His movements were slowing down, possibly nearing the end of whatever it was he was working to recover. A deafening bang from above, the sound of lightning striking so very near, caused the lights along the walls of the room to flicker back on. "Besides, you're currently staying in my room."

She unfolded herself from the chair, having reacted rather visibly to the sudden noise, but kept her face hidden behind her hand. It had occurred to her that might be the case, with how the rest of the manor looked in comparison, yet actually hearing it from him somehow embarrassed her to no end. Still, he worried her.

"That's not really an excuse for you to be missing sleep. I mean... you seem to be running into obstacles with your work, perhaps an actual night of sleep would help you out." It wasn't a question, and as she muttered it so venomously, he wondered for a moment about that familiarity. In the past, when they were together, she would have been quite adamant about him getting a proper amount of sleep (which was to say, any sleep at all) instead of working himself to exhaustion. Then she continued with, "you know it's not like I'd have any objections to sharing a bed with you anyway."

The Great Genius Doctor Genn Wolf nearly dropped a flask filled with a volatile liquid over his very delicately measured mixtures at the very prospect and Aloreah didn't miss it in the slightest. She covered her mouth as he recovered himself, setting the flask down gently and bracing himself against the table with both hands. Her voice cracked when she hesitated to say anything else, deciding to instead keep her mouth shut when he turned to look more directly at her. It couldn't possibly be that easy, could it?

"Aloreah... twenty years ago, you left me with nothing but a note telling me it was for the best. That it was unsafe to explain why you left." He spoke lowly, an evenness to his voice that suggested heavy restraint. His grip on the edge of the table would have made his knuckles go white, if she could see them through his elbow length gloves. "We have the time now. Tell me, why did you leave then? Only to come back now..."

The Young Heiress Aloreah Silverblood hugged her knees to her chest while her soaked fell into her face and Wolf felt all the world stop in that moment. He did not know what to expect of her answer, but every part of him still left over from those two decades alone cried for his ability to forgive to finally realize itself. Forgiveness was never his strong suit, but maybe, just maybe, her answer could convince him. His heart still ached for her even if he could not bring himself to tell her.

"I wanted to stay with you even if it put us both in danger." She started. "I wanted to be selfish and learn what I could to keep you safe. I couldn't get what I wanted though. The Raven’s Court was spending every ounce of their resources to recruit the Silverbloods into their fold and were going so far as to blackmail and extort them for oaths and bonds. You were in danger of being used as a weakness if I stayed, but worst of all there was the risk of them finding out about our family's secret through me. I knew I would have done anything to keep you safe and I never wanted to be cornered into sacrificing my own blood for your life or vice versa. I had to make a choice that would save you, me, and them. I'm the family secret."

She started to cry as she spoke, but despite the painful lump in her throat trying to prevent her from continuing, she forced herself on.

"I'm only half vampire, but the other half isn't human. It's so much worse. We don't even know what my father was, just that I can't control myself when I lose myself to anger, and it's so easy to lose myself to it. I've never been strong enough to do that before, what I did up there, but I was so afraid. So angry... I felt his ribs part around my fingers like dough." She held her face, but didn't stop even through her sobbing. "I've missed you from the day I was forced to decide whether I would risk everyone's lives for yours or my secret for everything. The Raven’s Court wants me to be angry and scared, so I'll crack... and I did, that day, on the massacre. I remember nothing, but anger and blood and the cold taste of dead iron, and then waking up in a wet alley because I was lucky enough to be found by V when I fled. I... I wanted you to be able to be happy without having a target over your head and they left you alone... because you didn't know. I'm sorry I left... I'm so sorry I..."

Her sobs muffled his approach, so she was surprised when his arms wrapped around her, holding her tightly against him despite both being so very soaked still. He'd taken off his rubber gloves and apron while she'd explained as he'd decided almost immediately that this was fine. She'd more than explained herself. Everything he'd fallen in love with from the very beginning was still there, so maybe things were allowed to be this simple sometimes.

"It's alright." He whispered, his hold on her firm and protective as she cried into his chest. He'd never been the expressive emotional type before, but seeing her life this after what he'd experienced could really break a man. "It's going to be alright. I am sorry I ever doubted you..."

"You had every right to." She whispered between sobs, finally wrapping her own arms around him. She almost lost him 20 years ago, a week ago, and now tonight, yet here he stood with his heart beating hard enough for her to feel against her face. There was no way she'd put him through all of that again. If this made him happy too, then this is how they would go. "I... I'm just... I'm so glad we're alive. We're both alive. I don't deserve this... but I won't say no..."

She could feel him plant a kiss on her head as his grip tightened around her. He wouldn't let her leave like that again if it killed him. Not to keep her against her will, but to keep her from doing something that only served to hurt them both, even if it guaranteed their lives. This, loving each other again could be that simple, even if their future was not.

"You are right in the end, as usual." He muttered. As her sobs calmed and he wiped away her tears, she looked up at him in surprise. She could see his eyes now, with his goggled pulled away, a sad and warm blue that hid years of fear and loneliness given new life as he gazed down at her. "Perhaps I will be able to sleep through the night with you at my side once more."

When he put his forehead against hers, she almost laughed. Even after it cracked and faded out, it was still a beautiful sound to his ears.

"Maybe after a proper, warm bath though." She whispered, fully aware of the hoarseness of her voice. "It wouldn't do for us to catch our death after getting comfortable."

He grinned and dared to kiss her so gently. His reward was joy and warmth as she returned the kiss tenfold.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun Fact: I turned this in for a Creative Writing class and I don't think the teacher knows that this is fan fiction. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


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